The federal government says it plans to spend $1.6 billion to replace 45 of Via Rail’s aging locomotives.
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon is making the announcement today in Montreal, where the federal government is spending another $357 million to build a new assembly plant and maintenance facility.
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Ottawa says the trains will be built by Switzerland-based Stadler, with the first nine built in Spain and the remaining 36 built in Canada — after Canadian workers learn from the Spaniards how to build them.
The trains will replace Via Rail’s fleet across the country, except for the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, where the federal government is planning a new high-speed rail line.
MacKinnon says the deal will create 1,200 new full-time jobs and the hybrid trains will be built with Canadian-made batteries.
The first trains are expected to be delivered by 2031.
Whats almost 2 billion dollars for a business that looses money each year like the post office. Off course Alberta’s transfer payments will help build the new facility in Quebec.
more eco-terrorism by the federal government. Battery powered trains? They have got to have their heads examined.
2 questions: How do they think a cross Canada train will run on batteries. and are they going to increase the frequency and lower the cost of trans Canada trains? They currently only run 1 train each 2 days, and it costs over 4k for a 4 day train trip. Way more expensive than a cruise with much poorer service. Look at the Ghan or India-pacific. They provide stops and activities for their money. The Canadian only stops to refuel, and sometimes goes through places one would want to stop, in the middle of the night, for under an hour.
We used to be famous for building Loco’s here in Canada. Why are we not supporting Canadian business?
What a ridiculous waste of money!
Are they also going to build new Model T’s and seal oil lamps?
No doubt there are Liberal kickbacks buried in the details.
Eastern Canadians still ride trains? Another $2B tax dollars down the drain.